Chapter 1674 Renzijuan sharpening the knife (3)
Regarding Nurhachi's agreement to form the Han Army Banner and let Li Yongfang be essentially responsible for the daily management of the Han Army Banner as Mele Ezhen (Mele Zhangjing), there was actually a lot of opposition within the Jianzhou Jurchens, even if they had been resolute E Yidu, Fei Yingdong, He Heli and others who supported Nurhaci did not agree with the establishment of Han military flags at this time.
From their point of view, the Jurchen Eight Banners were established just one year ago. Except for the two yellow flags, which are still relatively strong, the other six flags are still in unsatisfactory condition and are in urgent need of manpower from all parties to supplement them.
In the past, the captured Han people were directly added to the Jurchen Eight Banners. In this way, there would be enough Han people to cultivate the land and herd cattle and horses, which would free up a large number of Jurchen elites to specialize in military training and further enhance the military force of the Jurchen Eight Banners. At the same time, the Han people would cultivate the land. They are also more skillful than the Jurchens and have better harvests. This complements each other and can rapidly expand the strength of the Jurchen Eight Banners.
But now the Great Khan suddenly proposed to form a Han army banner, breaking this balance.
Although nominally the Great Khan personally led the Han army flag, and the scale of the Han army flag was far smaller than any of the Jurchen Eight Banners, this was a dangerous start, which meant that the Han people gradually gained a foothold in the Jurchen group in Jianzhou.
In the past, although the number of Han people in Jianzhou Jurchen was also growing, they were all affiliated with the Jurchen Eight Banners and had no independent status. They were not allowed to participate in the military force. They were completely treated as farmers, herdsmen and craftsmen. However, the establishment of the Han Army Flag this time directly transformed part of the original Zhou army brought by Li Yongfang into the armed force of the Han Army Flag. This was a very huge breakthrough.
Although the soldiers of the Han Army Banner are still nominally the same as the Jurchen Eight Banners, serving the army when they go out and serving the people when they go out, in fact after defeating the Ula tribe and starting to attract a large number of wild Jurchens to surrender, the Eight Banners mechanism of Jianzhou Jurchen It has been gradually changing, and the model of separation of military and civilians has gradually been established.
The training level and time of each Jurchen tribe's soldiers are constantly increasing, especially the real elite soldiers among them are no longer engaged in farming and herding, and are turned to those tribesmen who are not good at military affairs.
The Han Army Banner also followed this model from the beginning, and a pure Han army was also formed, although the scale was still small, with less than a thousand men.
Almost everyone opposed Nurhaci’s decision, but Nurhachi defied all opinions and resolutely established the Han military flag.
For Nurhachi, he was very clear about the pros and cons of setting up the Han military flag, and he also knew that everyone's concerns were not without reason, and it could even be said that the threat was not small. However, after weighing the pros and cons, he still insisted on his opinion.
In addition to the need to give an explanation to Li Yongfang, the first Han general who truly surrendered to Jianzhou Jurchen, Nurhaci hoped that the effect of buying horse bones for a thousand gold can be fully exerted.
He wanted the Han generals on both sides of Liaodong to see that as long as they relied on him, they could still have private armies here, even openly, unlike those in the Zhou Dynasty where they had to spend their own money. To win over and train.
Another important reason is that Nurhachi realized that recruiting the savage Jurchens could quickly expand the basic strength of the Jianzhou Jurchens in the short term, but the number of savage Jurchens was limited and far from being comparable to the number of Han people in Liaodong.
Looking at the gains he made from his painstaking efforts to bribe and conquer the savage Jurchens in the past three or four years, it was only a mere 10,000 or 20,000 people. However, Li Yongfang's defection this time brought him more than 10,000 people, and this did not include more than 1,000 people. The Great Zhou Army.
Therefore, he generously assigned most of the thousands of Zhou troops to Li Yongfang, and named Li Yongfang Meile Ezhen (Meile Zhangjing), allowing him to continue to lead this army, but after Among the more than 10,000 Han people who were kidnapped and brought back, he did not give all to Li Yongfang. He only gave him more than 1,000 households and more than 3,000 people. Most of the remaining people were directly included in the Jurchen Eight Banners.
Even so, it caused a strong backlash within the Jurchens. Not only did their sons disagree, but all the generals under his command also firmly opposed it, but Nurhachi still insisted on his opinion.
This year has passed, and the facts have proved that his opinion is correct. The training and farming of the Han Army Banner are going smoothly. Li Yongfang not only supervises the training of the Han Army Banner, but also continues to dig up intelligence inside Liaodong for himself, and has achieved gratifying results.
Especially after Feng Tang left Liaodong for the northwest, the situation in Liaodong changed subtly. It would be difficult to obtain this information accurately and in a timely manner without Li Yongfang's original connections.
This actually means that Feng Tang is no longer able to perform his duties in Liaodong, and can only be replaced by Cao Wenzhao. However, Cao Wenzhao is only temporarily acting as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong. If Feng Tang is not around, then Cao Wenzhao has no right to coordinate the Jizhen soldiers. Ma, when Feng Tang served as the governor of Jiliao and the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, the close relationship between the two towns of Liaodong and Jizhen no longer existed.
Cao Wenzhao was a foreigner brought over from Datong by Feng Tang. He had not been established for a long time. Although he was quite famous in Datong, he was not worth mentioning in Liaodong. He was the same as Zhao Lejiao, Du Song, Liu Qing and others who were natives of Liaodong. The relationship with the generals was not very good, especially with the deputy commander-in-chief Du Song. This was an opportunity to take advantage of.
Of course, this is just an opportunity, but it does not mean that it can be taken advantage of. Until Netu and the others brought the internal information of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the group of people in the south took the initiative to offer themselves an "olive branch" for cooperation.
In Nurhachi's view, this is a good opportunity given by God to Jianzhou Jurchen. If he cannot seize it firmly this time, God will not forgive himself.
"Great Khan, is the news from Dazhou reliable?" E Yidu couldn't help but stood up and asked: "I'm not saying that the news from Netu and Abai is inaccurate. Netu is cautious and Abai is diligent. They The information they have received this year is extremely important. What I am worried about is the information that you mentioned, Khan, that came from within the Great Zhou Dynasty. They are willing to provide us with supplies to harass us. This is incredible. , could it be a trap?"
"If they want us to attack fiercely, it may be a trap. They just let us make a false shot and they are willing to provide us with 100,000 shi of food. What loss can this trap cost us?" Fei Yingdong shook his head: "They We also agreed to pay 30,000 taels of silver as a deposit first, but we could only pay with a silver check from Haitong Bank. How did we get the money? It was real. A piece of paper said that if we don’t cash it, we won’t cash it. , isn’t our hard work in vain?”
Compared to the conservative and cautious attitudes of E Yidu and He Heli, Fei Yingdong appears to be more proactive.
As one of Nurhaci’s main aids, he mainly considered it from the increasingly tight financial situation within Jianzhou Jurchen.
From last year to this year, the Great Khan went out of his way to win over the Barbarian Jurchens. Among the three major tribes of the Barbarian Jurchens, the Warkha Tribe, under the leadership of leader Zemuthei, basically all joined the Jianzhou Jurchens.
The Great Khan's methods were also very clever. He gave Zemuthei good treatment, but he merged all the small tribes he helped bring into the Xianghuang Banner and the Zhenghuang Banner.
This did not violate the original promise given to Zemuthei, but it made Zemuthei suffer.
Zemuthei originally thought that the Great Khan would give him all the small tribes of wild Jurchens that he had attracted, but he never thought that what happened to these tribes that Jianzhou Jurchens had to spend so much iron, food and weapons to recruit Maybe use it to make wedding clothes for you, the Varkha people?
Even for the Warkha tribe, it was because of the subsequent impact that the Great Khan did not take action. As long as time is given, all the Warkha tribe will be dismembered and classified into the Eight Banners. This has already been made clear by the Great Khan and has been discussed with everyone. , no later than the year after tomorrow, the Warkha tribe must be dismembered and included.
Nowadays, women with good wine and meat, gold and silver, are giving Cemut black gifts in order to soften and corrode him, making him really think that the Jurchens in Jianzhou cannot do without the support of their savage Jurchens. Only when that day comes, will Cemut be allowed to die. Tehei understood that the Jianzhou Jurchens were the only Jurchen kings, and that both the Savage Jurchens and the Haixi Jurchens could only be stepping stones to the throne.
The small tribes of the Savage Jurchens were annexed into the Xianghuang Banner and the Zhenghuang Banner, making the Xianghuang Banner and the Zhenghuang Banner the most powerful of the Jurchen Eight Banners. This was the most satisfying point for the Great Khan, and it also made E Yiyi Du, Fei Yingdong, Fei Yanggu and other people who had always supported the expansion of the Jurchen Eight Banners were very excited. At the same time, it also aroused everyone's great interest in the savage Jurchens led by the Woji tribe and the Hurha tribe.
Since last year, the Great Khan has made all-out efforts to attack the Woji and Hulha tribes, and he has made great moves.
The Hurha Tribe was still on both sides of the fence because they were tempted by the Zaisai of Inner Khalkha in Mongolia, but the savage Jurchen tribes in the south headed by the Woji Tribe began to consider joining their side.
But the various promises brought about by all this need to be fulfilled. We need iron materials, food, agricultural tools, weapons, cloth, and cultivated land. We need everything. These must be provided in real terms, otherwise the Huerha tribe will There is a possibility that they will fall completely to Zaisai's side.
It is said that Zaisai received a large amount of ransom money from Dazhou after attacking Dazhou last year, and he exchanged all the money for grain, iron materials, cloth and other materials. He was very generous, so he made the tiger who was originally leaning towards his side The Erha tribe began to waver, some of them had already surrendered to Zasai, and some of them had not yet made up their minds.
In this case, the Jianzhou Jurchens had no choice but to bite the bullet and fulfill their promise, and they had to publicize it in a big way, otherwise the Hurha tribe might all surrender to the Mongols, which was absolutely unacceptable to the Great Khan.
(End of this chapter)